Collectibles debate blown out of proportion: SMSF Academy

21 June 2011
| By Ashleigh McIntyre |
image
image
expand image

Industry reactions to the draft regulations on collectible investments in self-managed funds have been labelled as “making a mountain out of a molehill”.

Self-managed super fund (SMSF) education provider SMSF Academy’s managing director Aaron Dunn said concerns about the additional compliance costs are valid, but that the changes are necessary to improve the integrity of the system.

The changes will prevent trustees from enjoying the benefits from their investments in collectibles and are designed to ensure the investments are made to derive a retirement benefit.

“It is a better outcome than that proposed by the Cooper Review, which sought a blanket ban on the acquisition of all collectibles and personal use assets within SMSFs,” Dunn said.

He added that the hype around collectibles was disproportionate to the amount of money the SMSF sector currently has invested in them, with only 0.1 per cent of the $430 billion of assets invested in collectibles.

Dunn said one area of change that will impose greater costs of more SMSFs was the proposed ban on acquiring shares from related parties, but there had been little debate on the topic.

“While the industry has a right to have input in the future direction of superannuation policy within Australia, arguing the toss on collectibles is really making a mountain out of a molehill,” Dunn said.

“Trustees and their advisers should be happy that they are here to stay — albeit with tighter regulation.”

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest developments in Super Review! Anytime, Anywhere!

Grant Banner

From my perspective, 40- 50% of people are likely going to be deeply unhappy about how long they actually live. ...

11 months ago
Kevin Gorman

Super director remuneration ...

11 months 1 week ago
Anthony Asher

No doubt true, but most of it is still because over 45’s have been upgrading their houses with 30 year mortgages. Money ...

11 months 1 week ago

Deloitte Access Economics has raised concerns about the government’s recent changes to the Future Fund’s investment mandate, questioning the necessity and implications of...

7 hours ago

The APRA chair has confirmed the need to build resistance to geopolitical shocks as opposed to shying away from global participation....

7 hours ago

An industry body has praised the strong backing from institutional investors for Australia’s transition to renewable energy....

7 hours ago